This little piggy is getting healthy

Menu

Butternut Squash Soup & Sausage Ravioli

I am very excited to announce that I am having a foodie Halloween themed party next Saturday the 29th! I have loved reading everyone’s blogs on Halloween foods for ideas. This recipe I created is one of my only non-spooky recipes I will be serving. Since I work in catering and mainly only worry about other people’s parties, I knew I had to start early on making these recipes. I have been trying to purchase/prep and freeze when necessary! My ‘Fright Night Feast’ is all spooky themed finger foods so I wanted to include a soup shooter of some kind. My inspiration for this dish comes from a dish I made countless times in school – Butternut Squash Ravioli in a Sage Butter Sauce. I hmm’d and huh’d for a while trying to decide how to make this work. I already knew the flavor combination was incredible so as long as I kept them same components I would be golden. My end result was Butternut Squash Soup Shooter with a crispy Fried Ravioli. Here is how I made it happen:

Ravioli Dough –

3 cups all purpose flour

4 eggs

3 Tbs Olive Oil

Salt

Add salt and flour to a bowl and combine. Beat eggs with olive oil and pour into a ”well” in the flour. Knead the dough until combined. Wrap dough in saran wrap and let the gluten rest.

Filling –

1/2 lb mild italian sausage

1 small onion diced

2-3 cloves garlic chopped

1 pkg cream cheese

2 Tbs dry rubbed sage

a few tablespoons milk/cream to thin out mixture a bit

Now I know that cream cheese inside a ravioli dough is strange. The only reason I did this was to add a creaminess to the butternut squash soup and because I will be frying these bad boys up. If I was just boiling them as regular ravioli I would not suggest cream cheese but maybe ricotta instead. Anyhoo!….

Saute onion in a small amount of olive oil (not too much, you dont want the mixture greasy). When onions are translucent add sausage and break up into the smallest bits you can get. Break up the cream cheese and let it melt over the sausage. Add sage and combine. Use milk or cream to thin out the filling a bit (not soupy though!)

Roll out dough, making sure that any remaining dough keeps covered to keep from drying. Roll out dough and cut into even strips. I did the width of a shot glass since that’s what vessel ill be using to serve it in. Make sure 2 strips match up and add small spoonfuls of mixture with about 1/2 and inch of space in between. Using an egg wash run your finger around the filling and take second strip and press the dough between filling balls and cut into ravioli shapes. Keep to the side to dry a bit.

I would have much rather used my dough roller…of course it broke 🙁

I rolled my ravioli out and put them in freezer bags to save for the party. If you wanted to fry your ravioli then all you have to do is boil them until they float and are finished cooking, let dry and cool, dip into buttermilk and then into breadcrumbs and fry them to a golden crisp.

Now for the soup!

Butternut Squash Soup –

3 butternut squashes, peeled, cleaned, cubed

2 Sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed (I used this strictly to get a darker orange color)

2 small onions diced

Chicken stock – enough to cover vegetables (it took 3 cans for me)

3 cups light cream

Spices to taste – ginger, nutmeg, all spice, cinnamon, salt, pepper

Tabasco – Trust me on this one! I do not eat spicy food but adding Tabasco to cream/puree soups brings the flavor to an extra level of awesome

Saute onion in just a small amount of olive oil until translucent. I add my spices now (use sparingly, you can add more, but you cannot take away!) I like to heat them up and get toasty with the sauteed vegetables. Add butternut squash and sweet potato and just cover with chicken stock. In a separate pot reduce your cream from 3 cups down to about 2. It brings out a much richer, nuttier flavor when reduced. Watch it like a hawk or it will bowl over..like it did to me…twice. When vegetables are fork tender, remove from heat and using either an immersion blender or a simple hand mixer, turn the mixture into a puree. Add reduced cream and a few dashes of tabasco. Taste it! Make sure you are happy with your seasonings. I went heavy on the tabasco and the ginger.

This is the vision for my appetizer

I plan on adding a demitase spoon and a sprig of green

What I love about this is when you fry up the ravioli it becomes a little pillowy and airy inside. Which is absolutely perfect for using as a spoon after one bite!

If you do not wish to use this recipe as an appetizer then omit the ravioli and enjoy it with a toasty half a sandwich!